'Little Trumpet' Lina Ng and 'Cheng Meiguang' Sharon Au visit E-Junkies for a Right Frequency reunion

Say the words 'Right Frequency', and you may catch no ball.

But mention 'Yan Dao' and 'Cheng Meiguang guang guang guang', and chances are, you'll recall that awesome Channel 8 sitcom from the late 1990s starring Sharon Au, Lina Ng, Hong Huifang, and Ryan Choo as 1960s radio broadcasters.

The show, along with many other local TV and film classics, are now available on Netflix as part of an initiative with local studios to bring 106 Singapore-made films and series to the streaming platform.

Rewatching Right Frequency brought us such happy nostalgia that we invited Lina — who played the tomboyish Little Trumpet — and Sharon — who played the vivacious and cutesy Cheng Meiguang — to E-Junkies for a spot of reminiscing.

Possible Right Frequency reunion?

Because of the show's 'revival' on Netflix, most of the cast and crew of the 1998 show recently reunited in a WhatsApp chat group, said Sharon, who was speaking to us while under quarantine in London.

Could this mean an actual reunion show looking into the lives of our favourite dysfunctional and eccentric radio announcers two decades later?

Well, Sharon, 45, and Lina, 46, are both down for it but admitted that they're unsure who can get the project rolling. Sharon said she tried to push for a musical, but dropped it because she "lost all rights to the show" after leaving Mediacorp.

Lina added: "I don't know who can get this going, you know? Honestly for me, Sharon, I believe for Yan Dao also even though he didn't say much, Madam Bai (played by Huifang), and most of the cast and crew, we want to have another season."

Not necessarily as a direct sequel to the Right Frequency where they play an older version of their characters, she clarified, but perhaps just a project that brings the cast and crew together again.

Besides, it would be weird for them to play the same personas again 22 years later.

As Sharon joked: "I was 23 when I did Cheng Meiguang okay? [It was] very cute because it was very natural. Now I'm 45, you want me to Cheng Meiguang guang guang guang guang guang? It's very act cute already, okay?"

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAuZNqGwtks[/embed]

Lina's sacrifice

Sharon also pointed out during the interview about a huge "sacrifice" that Lina made for the show.

As Little Trumpet sports a masculine look with her manly baggy shirts and pants, Lina had to chop off her locks.

She said: "Cutting the hair short wasn't an issue but they wanted to cut it really like a boy's style with all the layering up. That was the only agony that I went through because, after that, I wouldn't be able to take on any other drama roles (until my hair grew out)."

Sharon added that the other cast members could wear hair wigs but Lina wasn't allowed to wear one. Despite the initial bump, both of them went on to create many fond memories of the sitcom.

Sharon recalled: "We shot from morning to night, and we basically laughed from morning to night. We laughed at everything. Sometimes we couldn't get past a scene because we just kept laughing, and [we] NG. We made our directors very frustrated. We just looked at each other's face and we burst out laughing."

When asked who was the one most likely to break character, Lina singled out Sharon without missing a beat: "This zha bor (woman in Hokkien) lah!"

Yan Dao was a breakthrough for Ryan Choo

Apart from Little Trumpet and Cheng Meiguang, viewers will also remember Yan Dao (played by former actor Ryan Choo) who was the vainest character of the lot. And Sharon revealed that the role was actually a breakthrough for him.

"Prior to the sitcom, he was always in some young idol drama and he always acted as someone who is very guai (obedient) and very serious. This was his first comedy role. So he put in a lot, a lot of effort because it was his breakthrough role and he wanted to really impress the audience," she said, adding that Ryan watched a lot of old movies to follow the actions and style of an old actor he was emulating for Yan Dao.

Another behind-the-scenes bombshell that was dropped? Fu Kangrui, the person playing Mee Pok (the 'blur' bespectacled guy), wasn't a professional actor.

Lina said: "He was a floor manager in the studio. So when we were doing our studio shoots, he was the one who called the shots to get us ready... So the producer of Right Frequency thought his looks suited the role so he was asked to play Mee Pok."

Listen to our podcast for the full interview with Lina Ng and Sharon Au!

Best of Right Frequency is now showing on Netflix.

ALSO READ: E-Junkies Episode 11: Is Mulan worth watching?

bryanlim@asiaone.com